Hand brake mechanism for railway cars



Much 1940- J. A. LE IENDECKER ET AL 2,193,030

HAND BRAKE MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Original Filed Oct. 15, 1934 madam? Patented Mar. 12, 1940 rATENT OFFICE HAND BRAKE MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS .John A. Leiendecker, 'St. Louis, Mo., and Jacob A. 'Hyle, Chicago, Ill., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Champion Brake Corporation, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware vRefiled for abandoned application Serial No.

748,408, October 15, 1934.

This application May 26, 1936, SerialNo. 81,974

501aims. (01. 254-449) This invention pertains to special and im proved means for locking and releasing the hand brake shaft employed in connection with hand brakes for railwaycars including novel means for quickly taking up the'slack and applying the required power safely in properly applying the brakes. This application is refiled for our abandoned application Serial No. 748,408, filed October 15, 1 934.

The, prime object of the invention is to pro vide novel, simple, safe, durable, economical, and thoroughly practical and efficient brake mechanism for effectively and quickly applying and releasing said mechanism.

Another object of theinvention is "to so construct' ourimproved mechanism that it maybe readily, easily, economically, and quickly applied to any and all types of cars with which the ordinary hand brakes are'now commonly utilized.

Further objects of the invention are to so construct our novel means that it may at an economical cost be'installed on freight cars so as to replace the usual type of braking and releasing mechanism; that it will'freely and'safely operate under any and all conditions of the climate; that "the operating parts are fully and properly protected from snow, rain, ice, and sleet and thereby prevents undue accumulation of snow and ice which has been'kno'wn to cause serious interference with the practical operation of the several parts of the mechanism employed, resulting in costly andserious damage; that the use of any and all types of springs are entirely dispensed with; that the parts are so constructed, assembled, arranged, and disposed as to prevent any accidental disarrangement or disconnection of parts by the ordinary usage to which railway freight cars are usually subjected; that in the event that any part or member of said improved means shall have accidentally become broken,

impaired, or damaged, said part or member may be easily removed and a new one readily sub- ..stituted therefor.

The foregoing'and such other objects as may appear from theensuing description are accom-- 'plished by the construction, arrangement, com- In the accompanying drawing forming a par of this specification, it will be seen that:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the improved mechanism embodying our invention;

Fig. '2 is a vertical section taken in the plane of the dotted lines 2-2, Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a central vertical section taken in the plane of the dotted lines 33, Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is a transversesection taken through the casing showing the operating parts partly in section and partly in elevation, and showing the main brake operating chain Wheel shifted from the position such as is shown in Fig. 3.

In the embodiment of our invention as illustrated, it will be seen that a casing for enclosing and protecting the operating parts is provided, said casing being formed of two pieces of suitable plate metal, designated by the numerals i and 2, each of said plates having a lateral extension at each side, and'are fixedly secured together by suitable securingmea'ns at 3, with openings t formed therethrough for the'reception of suitable securing bolts for fixedly securing the casing to a car. Suitably secured and supported within the casing is the main operating shaft ii which is provided with two integral collar members '6 adapted to rest in easy contact with the inner face of the casing at each side thereof and prevent anysidewise vibration or movement of said shaft, theouter end of theshaft being provided with the usual hand operating wheel '2 fixedly secured to said shaft, while to the inner end portion of the shaft is fixedly secured a pinion 8 adaptedto mesh with the main driving gear wheel 9, andwithin the casing intermediate the shaft is fixedly secured a ratchet wheel i i, and

rigidly secured to the outer face of the casing and surrounding the shaft 5 is abearing and shaft supporting member i i adapted to support the weight of said shaft'and operating wheel "1'; to.

Disposed above theshaft 5 and supported with-' inthe casing atone side of the shaft is another shaft i2, each end portion thereof being pro vided with suitable means for preventing sidewise shifting or-movernent, while to the outer end of the shaft I2 is suitably secured a handle member 13 for impartinga partial rotary movement to the shaft l2, and loosely pivoted to shaft 12 intermediate its length is a locking pawl M,

and passing through two openings formed through said shaft I2 are the two vertical extended portions of a staple-like formation l5, each of its ends being riveted to theshaft l2, while the depending horizontal portion of the formation l5 and the lowermost vertical portions thereof straddle the hub portion of the said pawl and serve to retain the pawl in proper alignment with the ratchet ill under all conditions, said pawl l4 being adapted to automatically ride over the ratchet wheel while applying the brake and to drop into locking engagement therewith when the brake shall have been suitably applied. When it is desired to release the brake, it is simply necessary for the brakeman to reach the handle which projects upwardly overlapping the top portion of the casing and extended above said casing within easy reach and by imparting a suitable lateral swing to said handle will cause apartial rotation of the shaft and'cause the horizontal portion of the staple formation to contact with the lower face of the pawl Li, thereby disengaging the pawl from the ratchet ii] thereby immediately releasing the brake.

Disposed within the casing below the main operating shaft 5 is the main chain operating wheel 9 formed from a single piece of metal formed with gear teeth around its peripheral portion, said drive wheel comprising a centrally disposed shaft and hub portion it, each reduce-d end portion of the shaft being fitted within the casing with a shouldered portion resting against the inner face of the casing to prevent any sidewise movement ofthe Wheel, and radiating from and formed integral with a portion of the inner face of the wheel 9 is a laterally extended member 22] inclined inwardly from the outer face of the extension i8 to the inner face of the peripheral portion of said wheel 8 for the purpose hereinafter referred to. Formed integral with and intermediate of the shaft is an outward extension Zll' with both its upper and its lower face gradually inclined outwardly and inwardly and terminating with a rounded end portion, being in the form of a tapered pin or lug, and passing through one of the spokes H and its integral extension i8 is a pin 2i for loosely supporting the upper end link of the chain [9, said pin and extension having an opening formed therethrough for the reception of a suitable cotter pin 22 for removably retaining the pin 2!.

By reference to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing, will be seen the position assumed by the parts of the mechanism when the brake is off, but, when it is desired to apply the brake, it is simply necessary to release the locking pawl I4 from the ratchet wheel Ill, impart a one-half turn of the operating wheel I to the right which will cause the slack to be taken up and cause the chain operating wheel 9 to assume the position shown in Fig. 4, with the lower end portion of the end link of the chain riding the inclined portion of the extension 29 when further turning of the wheel 7 will cause said link to contact 1 onjwhich it is loosely suspended by the pin 21,

and the second link will be forced against said shaft [6, thus transferring the strain from the end link to the second link, and the further movement of the hand wheel 1 causes the chain the mechanism employed in connection with our invention may be formed of any suitable dimensions and of any desired material possessing the required strength and durability required for the practical purposes for which they are intended.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a brake operating mechanism of the character described including ahousing, a chain winding wheel mounted within said housing and means for operating the wheel, said Wheel consisting of a single piece of metal formed with gear teeth around its peripheral portion, an enlarged hub portion and a reduced shaft member, a plurality of spokes radiating from'the hub, a lateral extension formed on the outer end portion of one of the spokes for the reception of the end link of a chain, and an inclined lateral extension formed intermediate the shaft for the reception of the second link of the chain.

2. In a brake operating mechanism of the character described including a housing, a chain winding wheel mounted within the housing and means for operating the wheel, said wheel consisting of a. single piece of metal formed with gear teeth around its peripheral portion, an enlarged hub portion and a reduced shaft member, a plurality of spokes radiating from the hub, a box-like extension formed on the outer.

end of one of the spokes with an opening therein for the reception of the end link of a chain, an inclined lateral extension formed intermediate the shaft for the reception of a second link of the chain, and an inclined extension extending from said box-like extension to the peripheral portion of the wheel for forcing the chain outwardly onto the said shaft.

3. In a brake operating mechanism of the character described including a housing, and means disposed within said housing for operat ing a chain winding wheel, said wheel consisting of a single piece of metal having an enlarged hub portion and a reduced shaft member, ,a plurality of spokes radiating from the hub, a lateral extension formed at the upper end of one of the spokes adapted to receive the end link of a chain, a lateral extension formed on the shaft intermediate its length, said last named extension being inclined inwardly and outwardly terminating with a rounded portion for the reception of the second link of the chain.

4. In a brake operating mechanism of the v character described including a housing, means mounted within the housing for operating a chain winding wheel, said wheel consisting of a single piece of metal formed with an enlarged hub portion and a reduced shaft member, a

plurality of spokes radiating from the hub, a'

lateral extension formed at the outer end of one of the spokes for the reception of the end link of a chain, an outward extension formed on the shaft intermediate its length, said last named extension being inclined outwardly and termi-v of the second link of the chain, and means passing through the first named extension for sup- Y porting the end link.

5. In a brake operating mechanism of the character described including a housing, a winding wheel mounted within the housing and a flexible winding member secured to said wheel,

said wheel having a part upon which the winding member is wound by rotation of said wheel, a winding shaft for rotating said wheel, a ratchet wheel on said shaft and a pawl adapted to engage the ratchet wheel, a pawl shaft rotatably mounted in said housing, said pawl being pivoted on said shaft, a staple fixed to the pawl shaft and straddling the hub of the pawl so as to properly alignv the pawl and to bear against the side of the pawl to lift it out of engagement with the ratchet wheel when the pawl shaft is rotated, and manually operable means for turning said pawl shaft.

JOHN A. LEIENDECKER. JACOB A. HYLE. 

